Get to Know Your Running Clubs - Ottawa Running Club

In this edition of Get to Know Your Running Clubs we chatted with Geordie McConnell about the Ottawa Running Club. You’ll often find them running around Hintonburg, Wellington Village, and Westboro

Want to learn more about them? Read on!

Hi Geordie! Who are you? Give us your best one line bio

Hi there! I’m the founder, and a long time coach of the group

Tell us a bit about the club history

We started with a small group of friends in the spring of 2007 and grew from there, mostly through word of mouth.

Nice! Tell us a bit about your members, what level of runners typically run with you?

Everyone! We have everyone from brand new runners to Boston qualifiers.

Where/when do you usually meet and run?

We meet at various locations including a tempo run from the Dovercourt Rec Centre on Tuesdays, easy 5k's from the Wellington Bridgehead on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and our Sunday runs from both the Wellington and Golden Bridgeheads.

In the spring and summer we have track workouts at a local high school as well.

Shortly after the group “officially” formed we decided to charge a little 'commitment money' in the form of a $60 annual membership to help our runners stick with it. The money then moves on to support charitable causes in our city and abroad.

Are you affiliated with any events?

We do two club 'events' a year. They're very no frills 'Jabo Fofar' 5 and 10ks. That stands for 'Just A Bunch Of Friends Out For A Run' :)

Where are your favourite spots to run in/around the city?

The Hintonburg, Wellington Village, and Westboro areas offer so much! We are blessed from our neighbourhood with river, forest, farm and lake all within easy reach. There is one 17k route, that includes all four landscapes!

Do you have any favourite races? Outside of anything that you’re affiliated with :)

This city goes crazy for Ottawa Race Weekend and many of our members take part. Those that don't end up running often join our awesome cheering squad, one of the best on the route.

Anything else that we should know?

Check out our website. We have some great free resources about training, running in Ottawa, and more!

Want to learn more?

Want to connect with the Ottawa Running Club, or just learn a bit more about them? Check out their information below: